Jalen Brunson salutes the MSG crowd after his 42-point performance had the New York faithful on their feet.
5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀
Feb. 4, 2025
Monday’s Finest: Brunson & Trae come up clutch, Amen dazzles at MSG, Book hits milestone
Best In The West: 3 of the top 4 teams in the West extended win streaks on Monday
Rising Stars Draft: Ahead of today’s live draft (4 ET, NBA App & @NBA), get to know the 21 rookies and sophs in the pool
TNT Doubleheader: Round 3 of Celtics/Cavs and Round 2 of the Battle of L.A.
Setting The Pace: What’s behind Indy’s 12-2 start to 2025 and return to the East’s top 4?
BUT FIRST … ⏰
An action-packed Tuesday awaits…
Lakers Introduce Luka: Watch the Lakers’ introductory press conference for Luka Dončić live on the NBA App at 12 ET.
Best Of January: The first frame of 2025 is in the books, with the Players, Rookies and Defenders of the Month set to be announced today.
Run TMC x Rising Stars Draft: Former Warriors teammates Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin will make their selections in the Castrol Rising Stars Draft today at 4 ET on the NBA App.
TNT Doubleheader: The top two teams in the East meet in Cleveland (7:30 ET) followed by Round 2 of this season’s Battle of L.A. (10 ET).
1. JB, TRAE CLUTCH; AMEN DAZZLES AT MSG & BOOKER HITS MILESTONE
After falling to the Lakers in primetime on Saturday, Jalen Brunson wouldn’t let another top five team from the West come into The Garden and leave with a win.
Knicks 124, Rockets 118: Trailing by 11 entering the 4th quarter, the Knicks erupted for 46 points in the final frame to rally for their sixth win in the last seven games. | Recap | Watch The Final 4:20 Uncut
Brunson led the charge, scoring 17 of his game-high 42 points in the 4th to go with 10 assists and six rebounds, while making some Knicks history along the way.
- Passing Melo: With his 18th 40+ point game as a Knick, JB broke a tie with Carmelo Anthony for 3rd most in franchise history
- All Alone: With his 12th game with 30+ points and 10+ assists, Brunson passed Richie Guerin for most in franchise history
- Coach Thibodeau on Brunson: “The beauty of his game is [doing] whatever the game needs.”
Amen Thompson led the Rockets with his third career triple-double (25 pts, 11 reb, 11 ast) and the nasty in-and-out move to a poster slam above that had The Garden and social feeds buzzing, as his rapid ascent into stardom continues.
Despite Amen’s triple-double and poster, 21 points from Jalen Green and 18 off the bench from Cam Whitmore, the Rockets have dropped three straight games for the first time all season.
Hawks 132, Pistons 130: In a game that saw 14 ties and 16 lead changes, it all came down to one clutch shot from Trae Young, who sank a stepback jumper with 1.6 seconds left to snap an eight-game losing streak. | Recap | Watch The Final 4:46
Trae Day: Young finished with 34 points, nine dimes and four 3s while Dyson Daniels stuffed the stat sheet (19 pts, 6 reb, 7 ast, 4 stl, 3 blk) and De’Andre Hunter added 20 points in the win.
On the night Devin Booker became the Suns’ all-time leading scorer, Phoenix and Portland gave the NBA world a finish to remember.
Blazers 121, Suns 119 (OT): Phoenix rallied to send it to overtime and Book finished with a game-high 34, but a missed free throw with 4.4 seconds left in OT helped the Blazers capture their fourth straight W and eight in their last nine. | Recap | Watch The Wild OT Ending
- 20/20 Ayton: Deandre Ayton (25 pts, 20 reb) collected the Booker miss for his 20th rebound of the game, securing his fourth career 20/20 game and first with the Blazers
- Rare Loss: The Suns lost for the first time in three instances when Booker (34), Kevin Durant (27) and Bradley Beal (25) all scored 25+ points in the same game
Booker Milestone: Booker passed Walter Davis (15,666) as the Suns’ all-time leading scorer, becoming the 11th player to lead a franchise in both points and 3-pointers made. | Booker celebrates the moment with family
The List: Kobe Bryant (LAL), Mike Conley (MEM), Steph Curry (GSW), Allen Iverson (PHI), LeBron (CLE), Damian Lillard (POR), Reggie Miller (IND), Dirk Nowitzki (DAL), Paul Pierce (BOS), Kemba Walker (CHA)
Pacers 112, Jazz 111: Trailing by 12 midway through the 4th, the Pacers ended the game on a 23-10 run to earn their fourth straight win. Pascal Siakam scored 10 of his 22 in the 4th, while Tyrese Haliburton added 18, including the clutch 3 above that put Indy up for good. | Recap
Wizards 124, Hornets 114: Bilal Coulibaly (26 pts) and Corey Kispert (25 pts) combined for 51 points and nine of Washington’s 17 triples as the Wizards defeated the Hornets to win their second straight game despite Miles Bridges’ first career triple-double. | Recap
2. WEST LEADERS STAY HOT AS THUNDER, GRIZZLIES, NUGGETS ROLL
Thunder 125, Bucks 96: Facing a shorthanded Bucks team without Giannis, Dame and Khris Middleton, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (34 pts, 6 ast) and the Thunder never trailed as they improved to 39-9 on the season and 17-1 against the East. | Recap
Quick Work: SGA had 30 points in the 1st half and finished with 34 in only 22:24 on court, becoming the only player in franchise history with multiple 30+ point games in under 23 minutes.
Grizzlies 128, Spurs 109: Jaren Jackson Jr. posted his 2nd straight 30-piece while Ja Morant (25 pts, 11 ast) returned after missing two games to lead the Grizzlies to their 9th win in the last 10 games. | Recap
Nuggets 125, Pelicans 113: Michael Porter Jr.’s best game of the year – season highs of 36 points and seven 3s – and Nikola Jokić’s league-leading 23rd triple-double (27 pts, 14 reb, 10 ast) helped the Nuggets win their third straight. | Recap
Trey 🤝 AD: Trey Murphy III (41 pts, 8 3pm) joined Anthony Davis as the only players in Pelicans history to post back-to-back 40+ point games.
Kings 116, Timberwolves 114: Just hours after the De’Aaron Fox/Zach LaVine trade was made official, the Kings wrapped up a six-game road trip by holding off the Timberwolves behind DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk, who combined for 59 points. | Recap
Sabonis Milestone: Domantas Sabonis reached 10,000 career points in his 622nd game, making him the 2nd fastest player to reach 10K points, 6,500 rebounds and 3K assists behind only Nikola Jokić (613).
Warriors 104, Magic 99: Trailing by 15 entering the 4th, the Magic used a 25-8 run to take a two-point lead with 4:27 left. But Golden State answered with a game-ending 14-7 run to seal their third win in four games while handing the Magic their fourth straight loss. | Recap
3. ONE THING YOU TO KNOW ABOUT EVERY RISING STAR BEFORE TODAY’S DRAFT
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With NBA All-Star back in the Bay for the first time in 25 years, a Hall of Fame trio of former Warriors teammates is set to serve as honorary coaches for Castrol Rising Stars.
Today, they pick their squads.
- Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin will each select seven players from the 21 NBA rookies and sophomores in the player pool today at 4 ET on the NBA App
- Those three teams will be joined by a fourth team comprised of NBA G League players and coached by former Warrior and G League alum Jeremy Lin
- Replacements Named: Four players have been named as replacements for players that are injured – rookie Jared McCain and sophomores Dereck Lively II and Brandon Miller – as well as All-Star reserve Victor Wembanyama
- The Castrol Rising Stars three-game mini-tournament will take place on Friday, Feb. 14 (8 ET, TNT), with the winning team advancing to participate in the NBA All-Star mini tournament, representing Team Candace
10 NBA Rookies (all rankings among rookies unless otherwise stated)
- Bub Carrington: Ranks 1st in minutes (28.8) & 2nd in assists (3.8)
- Stephon Castle: Ranks 2nd in scoring (12.2) & 3rd in assists (3.7)
- Tristan da Silva: Ranks in the top 10 in points (8.5), rebounds (4.0) & 3s (59)
- Ryan Dunn: Ranks 3rd in defensive FG percentage allowed (42.2%, min. 150 DFGA)
- Zach Edey: Ranks 1st in FG percentage (58.0%) & rim protection (55.6% allowed, 12th in NBA, min. 150 DFGA)
- Dalton Knecht: Has the highest scoring game by a rookie this season (37 vs. Jazz on Nov. 19)
- Yves Missi: Ranks 1st in rebounding (8.1) & one of two players with two 100+ Dunk Scores
- Zaccharie Risacher: The 1st teenager with multiple 30+ point games with zero turnovers
- Alex Sarr: Ranks 1st in blocks (1.6) & 2nd in screen assists (139)
- Jaylen Wells: Ranks 1st in games started (45) & 3s made (94) as the only 2nd round pick in this group
11 NBA Sophomores (all rankings among sophomores with a minimum 25 games played unless otherwise stated)
- Anthony Black: Ranks 6th in assists (3.8) & 4th in defensive win shares (4.8)
- Toumani Camara: Ranks 9th in scoring (10.3), 5th in rebounding (5.7) & 3rd in steals (1.4)
- Bilal Coulibaly: Ranks 2nd in minutes (33.2) & 7th in both scoring (12.5) & assists (3.3)
- Gradey Dick: Ranks 4th scoring (15.7) and 3s made (94) & 3rd in 30+ point games (3)
- Keyonte George: Leads the sophomore class in assists (5.7) & ranks third in scoring (16.2)
- Scoot Henderson: Ranks 6th in scoring (12.6) & 2nd in assists (5.3)
- Trayce Jackson-Davis: Ranks 4th in rebounding (6.2) & double-doubles (4)
- Jaime Jaquez Jr.: One of three sophomores with a triple-double this season
- Amen Thompson: Leads the class in triple-doubles (3) & ranks top five in points (13.9), rebounds (8.2) and steals (1.4)
- Ausar Thompson: Leads all sophomores in pace (104.06, min. 1,000 possessions) & ranks 2nd in steals (1.5)
- Cason Wallace: Leads the class in steals (1.8, 6th in NBA) & plus/minus (+5.7)
4. TONIGHT ON TNT: EAST ELITES MEET, BATTLE OF LA II
The top two teams in the East meet tonight in Cleveland (7:30 ET) for their third head-to-head matchup of the season.
The first two games both came down to the wire.
- Nov. 19 in Boston: The Celtics held off the Cavs, 120-117, to hand Cleveland its first loss of the season after a historic 15-0 start
- Dec. 1 in Cleveland: The Cavs rallied back from 14 points down to defeat the Celtics, 115-111, snapping Boston’s longest win streak of the season
After two thrilling finishes, what do the Celtics and Cavs have in store for Round 3?
- Cleveland: The Cavs have won four straight overall, including Sunday’s win over Dallas that saw Cleveland become the third team since 1997-98 to score 91+ points in a half
- Boston: The Celtics are coming off an emotional win on Sunday that saw Boston overcome a 26-point deficit to defeat the Sixers, matching the Celtics’ third-largest comeback since 1997-98
- All-Stars On Display: Nearly half of the East All-Stars (5 of the 12 to be exact) – Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley along with Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown – will share the court in tonight’s rubber match
On Jan. 19, the Clippers defeated the Lakers, 116-102, in their first-ever meeting in the Clippers’ new home – the Intuit Dome – which is where tonight’s rematch will go down (10 ET, TNT).
- LA Quartet: The Clippers got a combined 83 points from Norman Powell (22), James Harden (21), Ivica Zubac (21) and Kawhi Leonard (19) in the win
- The Clippers are 8-3 with Kawhi in the lineup since he made his season debut on Jan. 4. Leonard is averaging 16.4 points in 24.4 minutes per game, but LA is maximizing his time on court, outscoring teams by 109 points in his 269 minutes played
The Lakers take the court tonight for the first time since the Luka/AD trade that sent shockwaves through the NBA universe.
- No Luka: Doncic will not debut tonight as he is still recovering from a calf strain that has sidelined him since Christmas
- Momentum: The Lakers have won eight of their last 10 games – the last two without AD while he was out with an abdominal strain. LeBron James is coming off a 33/11/12 triple-double at The Garden.
5. TONIGHT ON LEAGUE PASS: INDY SETTING THE PACE
The Indiana Pacers closed 2024 with a New Year’s Eve loss to the Bucks to drop them to 16-18 on the season and ninth place in the East.
In their first 14 games of 2025, the Pacers are a league-best 12-2, improving to 28-20 and passing the Bucks for fourth in the East.
Tonight (10 ET, League Pass), the Pacers are in Portland to face the Blazers in a matchup of two teams riding four-game win streaks.
Last season, the Pacers’ run to the East Finals was fueled by a high-octane offense – averaging a league-high 123.3 ppg – that looked to outscore opponents every night.
This season, Indy has stepped up more defensively and it’s paying off. As the numbers below illustrate, the Pacers have turned themselves into a top five team on both sides of the ball since the new year.
Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle: “We play a demanding style, and it’s not for everybody. You don’t see every team in the league picking up full court the way we do. It’s hard.
“You don’t see 7-footers up on pick and rolls at half court. Our guys are making big sacrifices to make improvements. Progress has been made, but the work goes on.”
Four more games on League Pass round out a seven-game Tuesday: Mavericks at Sixers (7 ET), Rockets at Nets (7:30 ET), Knicks at Raptors (7:30 ET) and Heat at Bulls (8 ET).
